Food Critic Michael Nagrant Joins RedEye

By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 10, 2013 3:00PM

Late last night (if you were paying attention to Twitter) you might have seen local food media issue a collective shout of joy. Michael Nagrant, former dining critic of the Chicago Sun-Times (and a contributor to just about every media outlet in town) has landed a new job at RedEye.

Nagrant, who was let go after the Sun-Times eliminated his position in May, has recently been without an outlet. As we discussed in the first episode of the Airwaves Full of Bacon Podcast (which you should certainly subscribe to), the food media scene is contracting rapidly. Just this year, we've Grubstreet Chicago close, the Chicago Sun-Times end its food section and the Time Out Chicago went web-only. It's wonderful to see one positive moment in this stream of sadness. Nagrant will hopefully bring a critical edge to the RedEye's dining reviews, which are sometimes more informative than evaluative. He will not, however, be entirely anonymous, as he will reportedly be doing some video segments in addition to his print reviews.

His first review, of Lao 18, is up now. Below, take a look at the story as it played out on twitter last night, including Nagrant's little poke at Steve Dolinsky.